The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37 can record gorgeous HD video, but it loses points for so-so still images, which exhibit some color fringing.

The cute and compact Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37 offers some competitive features including HD video capture (1,280 by 720 at 30 frames per second), but its still-image sharpness is not on a par with other 10-megapixel cameras. In a crowded sea of similar point-and-shoot cameras, it's hard to get excited about this oneespecially given its high price ($349.95 direct).

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The FX37 looks a lot like its predecessor, the FX35. At 2 by 3.7 by 0.9 inches (HWD), the dimensions are identical. It is available in silver, black, brown, blue, pink, or white. Our silver review unit has a plain matte finish that covers the front and back of the camera. The top, bottom, and sides are dressed in steel. The face bears the Lumix name and Leica logo for the glass lens used in all of Panasonic's cameras.

Like the FX35, the FX37 features a wide-angle lens, which we're seeing more and more in point-and-shoot cameras. The lens retains the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio, but offers a wider scope. It sports 5X optical zoom (up from 4X in the FX35) with a focal length of 4.4mm to 22mm (35mm equivalent: 25mm to 125mm) and corresponding maximum f-stops of f/3.3 and f/5.9.

Motion blur is noticeable on most digital camera's LCDs, but it's particularly distracting on the FX37's 2.5-inch screen, especially when the lens is at its telephoto position (extended all the way out). At this position, a subject in motion or slight camera movements turn objects on the screen into smears of light, making it difficult to frame shots. The screen is viewable in most lighting conditions, but like most camera displays, on particularly sunny days it can be a bit difficult to view images on screen, and there's no viewfinder.

Most of the FX37's competitors have larger and faster screens, but the Samsung NV24HD has the best display we've seen, since it uses a high-contrast, low motion-blur AMOLED panel.

The camera's user interface is intuitive, and its controls cut down on the likelihood of pressing the wrong button. The controls for power and toggling between shooting and playback modes are switches, rather than buttonsso you can't accidentally exit playback mode by hitting the shutter-release button, as you can on the Fuji Finepix z200fd. You'd have to move the switch to do so. The switches also prevent you from accidentally shutting the camera down when you mean to press the shutter button. Even the powerhouse Canon PowerShot SD890 IS, which is otherwise easy to use, has a problematic, hard-to-press power buttonso I appreciate the FX37's controls. Panasonic also throws in a dial to switch between Manual, Automatic, and Movie modes, and a trigger-style button for zooming in and out, which I prefer over dedicated buttons that require you to move your finger back and forth, as on the Finepix z200fd.

The FX37 is jam-packed with preset scene modes, along with face detection and autofocus tracking, both of which worked well. When snapping a picture of a friend, the camera was able to identify his face and profile. When the camera or the subject moved, the FX37 stayed locked on the face and was able to refocus quickly. Its most nifty feature was "audio recording,". In which the camera snaps a shot, then records 5 seconds of audio after it. You'll have a 5-second MOV video that shows the static image while the recorded audio plays over it.

When it comes to judging a camera's output, we rely on Imatest (www.imatest.com), a testing suite that assesses image sharpness, noise level, and overall image quality. The FX37 did well in delivering images with small amounts of noise up to ISO 400. At the same ISO setting (ISO 400), shots from the similarly priced Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300 showed almost twice as much noise.

Unfortunately, the FX37 doesn't excel at image sharpness; the camera could capture 1,462 lines per pixel height only in the center of the image, which should be the lens's sharpest point. The 10MP Samsung NV24HD and Canon PowerShot SD890 IS, and even the 9.1MP Casio Exilim z250 were able to capture much sharper images (between 1,800and 2,000 lines). To make matters worse, at the upper right-hand corner of the lens, sharpness decreased by 7 percent, while sharpness at the lower left-hand corner decreased by an unreasonable 35 percent. Color fringing is noticeable toward the corners of the lens, especially in high-contrast areas. Our studio shots showed this fringe, especially with dark objects shot against our white lab backdrop.

The FX37 processes images quickly but is not as fast when it comes to capturing them. On average, I was able to boot up the camera and snap off a picture in an extremely fast 2.39 seconds, plus I had to wait only about 1.91 seconds in between shots. The bad news: The camera averaged about 0.85 second between shutter press and image capture, according to the shooting-digital.com test. That might not sound like much, but the FX37's shutter is much slower than even the less-expensive $250 Exilim z250, which clocked in at a fast 0.52 second.

Video from the FX37 is captured at a resolution of 1,280 by 720 at 30 fps, same as the Kodak EasyShare V1073 and Samsung NV24HD. It looks and sounds fantastic compared with SD video recorded by cameras like the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T300 and Canon SD890 IS. A 1-minute HD file clocks in at 165MB; the Samsung NV24HD uses an h.264 codec that makes a much smaller 1-minute HD video file of just 47.1MB. Video is recorded in the MOV format and requires QuickTime for viewing on a PC. The FX37 offers component video out on the camera for playback on your HDTV, but it requires that you buy proprietary component cables for $39.95. Samsung also requires you to purchase an optional dock ($79.99) to connect the NV24HD to an HDTV, but this dock features HDMI out, a much better connection choice, since it sends audio and video over one digital cable.

Overall, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37 is a tough sell at $350. Its subpar performance and image quality, coupled with its often blurry LCD, are definite detractors. If you're looking for a pocket camera that offers HD video along with solid still shots, take a look at the Kodak V1073 and the Samsung NV24HD, both of which offer HD video with better overall still-image quality.

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About the Author

PJ Jacobowitz is PCMag.com's Analyst for Digital Cameras. He has been with PCMag.com since September of 2006 and has appeared on MSNBC, CW11, ABCNY, XM Satellite Radio and CNN Radio as a correspondent for PCMag.com. PJ graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Telecommunications and a minor in Business in 2004 from Indiana University at Bloomington.... See Full Bio

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX37

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